Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Praying Without Staying

November 20, 2025

Q The Hatzalah member who was our chazan for Mincha got a call in the middle of Chazaras Hashatz and bolted. What should we do?

A First, the chazan acted correctly in response to a potential threat to life (Shulchan Aruch O.C. 104:3).

As to your question, the Mishnah (Brachos 34a) says: “One who was leading davening and erred, another person should take his place…From where should he begin? From the beginning of the bracha in which the other one erred.” This is codified in Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 126:2).

Ideally, the replacement should be someone who had followed along with the first chazan, but bedi’eved, it needn’t be (Mishnah Brurah 126:8).

If the first man left at any point during the first three brachos of Shmoneh Esrei, his replacement must start from the beginning of Shmoneh Esrei, because those three brachos are grouped together. The same applies to the last three brachos (Shulchan Aruch ibid.). According to some poskim, if the replacement chazan had followed along with the first, he begins at the start of the paused bracha, even if it is in a grouped section. The Biur Halacha rules this way. (He even considers the possibility that in that case, the substitute begins in mid-bracha at the very spot of the interruption, but he does not rule conclusively.)

If the chazan’s departure leaves you without a minyan, you may nevertheless continue Chazaras Hashatz, because you began it with a minyan (O.C. 55:3). Even the Kaddish Tiskabeil after Tachanun or Chazaras Hashatz may be said with the people that remain (Rama ibid.). If the first chazan left during the first three brachos and the second chazan needs to begin Shmoneh Esrei anew, it is debatable whether that may be done without a minyan in place (see a related—though not identical—discussion in Ishei Yisrael 15:43 fn. 125).

When the paramedic is finished dealing with the emergency, he should neither continue nor restart his Shmoneh Esrei, because Chazaras Hashatz is not his personal duty but a chovas tzibur (congregational obligation).